Life at Shiz
by LauraKatharineX
Summary: Just another made-up story, showing a bit of development in the friendship between Elphaba, Fiyero and Galinda. Hope you like it! xx


It was a pleasantly sunny afternoon at Shiz. The sun was high in the pale sky, and it radiated its golden beams of warmth and light on the backs of the students going about their daily business in the grounds below.

Elphaba, clutching her books to her chest protectively, made her way to the library, where she knew she would be guaranteed a quiet place to study. Her lectures were over for today, and instead of engaging in what most girls of eighteen would class as an enjoyable pass time – for example, socialising in the quaint little cafés dotted around the campus, or simply taking afternoon naps in their airy dormitories – Elphaba liked nothing more than to sit herself at a table with a mountain of books, and fill her head with knowledge.

In regards to her green skin, the majority of students had grown to accept her now. However, the more cruel-hearted beings could not resist the occasional taunt or trick, purely for the entertainment value it carried. She was thankful to arrive at the library without any of these encounters, and having nodded at the old librarian in greeting, she made her way to a small table by the window.

Her arms held three books, one named "A History of Oz", the second "A Munchkin's Place", and the third, "Animals and animals: their differences". It was the third book which Elphaba opened to read. It was old, with a nice musty smell wafting from its yellowed pages. Elphaba laid her elbows on the table, cupped her face in her hands, and let her eyes follow each typed word, sentence and paragraph, gaining the information they held.

Before too long, she heard someone enter the library and make their way over to her table. She didn't look up,

"Hey, Elphaba."

The familiar voice of Fiyero Tiggular broke the peaceful silence; however Elphaba was far from displeased to hear it. In fact, if anyone were to have disturbed her while reading, she would rather it have been him than anyone else. She lifted her gaze to his face and smiled shyly,

"Good afternoon, Fiyero,"

"I thought I'd find you here. What's that you're reading?" he asked light-heartedly.

The pair had neither seen nor spoken to one another since the day before: the dreadful day of the lion cub and Dr Dillamond's dismissal. Elphaba had shut herself away, as she always did when distressed about something, and hadn't really spoken to anyone since; not even Galinda, whose desire to offload all of her day's events unto her hadn't waned one bit,

"It's a book about Animals and animals," Elphaba answered simply, inflecting the word 'Animals' in such a way as to make it clear to Fiyero that she meant the Animals who were able to speak and act just as humans could.

He nodded, "May I have a look?"

Elphaba handed him the book gingerly. He stared at the page she had been reading, his expression turning from one of mild curiosity to utter bewilderment,

"What in Oz' name is this on about?" he exclaimed in disbelief, "'Following the years of the Great Drought, which left Oz in a state of famish and poverty, the citizens – malnourished and increasingly angry – searched for the means to apportion blame. It became apparent that the recipients of this blame were to be the Animals, a species not so dissimilar to our own, but an easy target, because of their contrasting ethical values and characters. Such it was: Animals rights were severely disparaged, and their lives were to become significantly more arduous.'"

The boy, with eyebrows raised, looked to the green girl for a translation. She rolled her eyes jokingly and replied,

"It's basically saying that after the Great Drought, the people here wanted to blame someone, or something, so they picked the Animals because they were a minority, and very different. So then the Animals were mistreated, and have been ever since,"

"Well, why doesn't it just _say _that?" Fiyero sighed emphatically, handing the book back, "It would save so much time and effort! You can't tell me you _enjoy _reading drivel like that?"

Elphaba snapped her eyes up to meet his, and – trying to ignore her racing heart – answered curtly, "I find it rather interesting, especially as I can relate somewhat to these creatures, for I myself have been mistreated, purely because I'm different,"

Fiyero's eyes wandered down to stare fixedly at the floor. He'd obviously offended her, an action which seemed to require little effort. There was a very fine line between a happy Elphaba and an angry Elphaba, he thought to himself.

His hands patted his sides nervously, "Would it be OK if I sat down?" he questioned carefully,

She nodded, having resumed her reading position, and stared determinedly at the pages.

The boy pulled out the chair opposite from her, and sat down, his hands clasped in his lap,

"So, how's Galinda?"

"The usual. Blonde, excitable, lovably irritating..."

"Has she spoken about... me, at all?"

"No,"

"Really?"

"Well, unless you count the many hours I've heard little other than: 'Fiyero this. Fiyero that. Fiyero thinks this. Fiyero said that.' She's already planned your wedding," Elphaba said matter-of-factly, turning a page of her book slowly.

Fiyero coughed slightly in surprise, "Er... really?"

Elphaba laid her book down on the table, having given up trying to read while Fiyero was speaking; she just couldn't concentrate, "Yes, she loves you very much," The words hurt her to say them. She was all too aware of her own feelings for him, but pushed them to the back of her mind and managed to smile, "She truly does,"

She picked her book up again and continued reading, feeling her stomach tie itself in knots. An awkward silence fell over the pair.

Fiyero turned over the phrase in his mind. _She loves you very much_. He felt a strong sense of guilt, knowing that Galinda's feelings of affection for him were not to be returned. For Fiyero didn't feel such a deep feeling for her. The more he looked at Elphaba, the more attracted he felt to the green girl. But he tried to avoid getting distracted and voiced his request for a confirmation of Galinda's affections,

"She loves me?" he questioned quietly,

"Yes," Elphaba answered simply,

"_She _loves me?"

He received the same response, and couldn't help but sense a slight tone of annoyance in her voice,

"She _loves _me?"

Elphaba placed her book down again, rather sharply, on the table top and looked directly at him, "Yes, Fiyero. She _loves _you. Now, if you wouldn't mind: if you have work to do, do it, for I'd prefer to be left alone. Please?"

He couldn't help but smile at her earnest expression. He was quiet. However, he was a man who could never resist a small joke now and again. He pressed his lips together, and jiggled his legs up and down. This was not well received by Elphaba, who fixed him with such a dark stare that he stopped abruptly. A few moments passed, and she relaxed back into her seat, turning another page in her book,

"She loves _me_?" Fiyero blurted out, with an eruption of masculine giggles following shortly after.

Elphaba tore a page out of her notebook (she had in fact been scribbling various nuggets of information from "Animals and animals: their differences"), screwed it up into a tight ball with her thin fist, and lightly tossed it at Fiyero, where it came into contact with his nose.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed, still laughing,

"I did tell you to leave me alone!" Elphaba retorted, though she found it difficult to really be angry with him. Her stern expression soon melted into a widespread grin, and she and Fiyero were still merrily chuckling with each other when Galinda flounced into the room.

The pretty, blonde girl sat heavily on the remaining chair at Elphaba's table, with her golden curls bouncing about her heart-shaped face like little springs. Her cheeks were flushed in annoyance, and her tone was sharp when she exclaimed,

"I will never, I repeat – _never _ – understand why Professor Pfyllis _insists _on giving us so many silly essays! It's honestly averaged out to about a hundred every lesson now!"

Galinda was often prone to hyperbole, so both Elphaba and Fiyero took this information to be a certain distance away from the truth,

"I mean, you'd think that studying 'Art and Culture' would be a bit more than just _writing _about it, wouldn't you?"

Her two friends tried diligently to fill their faces with the deepest sympathy. They were worried that maybe they just didn't look outraged enough. However, Galinda seemed satisfied with their response and fixed a smile on her face,

"So, Elphie. What are you reading today?"

Elphaba handed her the book wordlessly. Her original plan of getting some peace and quiet just hadn't happened, though she didn't mind really; she was so grateful that two of the most popular people at Shiz University should choose to spend time with her. She found herself smiling stupidly,

"What are you grinning at, Elphie? Do you really find my distress so amusing?" Galinda said jokily. After peering intently at the page for a few moments – giving the impression that she actually understood what it meant – she cried, "I can't make head nor tail of this!"

The book was thrust back onto the table top, where a cloud of dust was released from its tired cover. Elphaba lifted it gently and placed it back on the pile of the two other books she had brought with her to the library, blowing delicately across it to rid it of the remaining dust.

The three spent a good deal of time in the library, laughing and joking together, until the librarian trotted over to scold them for being too noisy.


End file.
